FAB 4. BREAKING DOWN THE BUCS’ BACKUP QUARTERBACK SITUATION
Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon cashed in as expected in free agency, landing a three-year deal worth $43.5 million in Chicago and includes $19 million in guaranteed money. Good for Glennon, but I don’t think this excites too many Bears fans.

While Glennon is smart, has a strong arm and can be a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL with his physical traits, he’s not a winner. Despite 30 career touchdowns and 15 interceptions, which is an impressively favorable 2:1 ratio, Glennon was just 5-13 as a starter. With a pair of 1,000-yard receivers at his disposal in 2014, Glennon went just 1-4 while filling in for the injured Josh McCown.

Glennon had a nice, come-from-behind, 27-24 victory at Pittsburgh at his first start in 2014, but lost a 37-31 heartbreaker in New Orleans the next week, followed by a disastrous 48-17 defeat at home against Baltimore. But Glennon couldn’t engineer the Bucs to a win against rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings in a 19-13 overtime loss, and was just plain bad in a 22-17 loss at Cleveland.

Bucs QBs Ryan Griffin, Mike Glennon and Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While I agree he’s one of the better backup quarterbacks in the league, the Bucs liked him more than I did, and obviously wanted to keep him after offering him a contract that at $8 million per year would make Glennon the highest paid backup in the NFL. Glennon will get the chance to play against Tampa Bay as Chicago returns to Raymond James Stadium again this year after a 36-10 drubbing in 2016. Expect a similar result as the Bucs defense is better than the Bears offense and knows Glennon’s tendencies inside and out.

So what now for the Bucs and their backup quarterback situation? The team offered the low tender on restricted free agent quarterback Ryan Griffin, which was a one-year deal worth $1.18 million. The Bucs didn’t feel too comfortable paying the unproven Griffin that much money to be a backup and tried to get him to take a two year deal that had less money in year one, but Griffin didn’t bite.

Griffin is essentially betting on himself this year that he’ll win the backup job, have a good showing in the preseason and in any mop-up duty this season did, as Glennon did last year in completing 10-of-11 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown in limited action against Atlanta. Griffin’s gamble could backfire if he doesn’t distinguish himself against Sean Renfree, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound signal caller that was a backup in Atlanta behind Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub in

Renfree completed 12-of-19 passes (63.2 percent) of his passes for 136 with no touchdowns and no interceptions in the 2016 preseason before being released. In four preseasons in Atlanta he completed 78-of-124 (62.9 percent) passes for 735 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. In his limited opportunities in the regular season, Renfree entered a 38-0 blowout loss to Carolina and was 3-of-7 for 11 yards with one interception and he was sacked twice.

Neither Griffin nor Renfree has shown the promise or potential that Glennon had, so the Bucs will keep looking for a quarterback that has long-term potential to be Winston’s backup. At the very least, Bucs general manager Jason Licht is looking for a young quarterback to develop over time that could possibly leave after four years in free agency and earn a lucrative contract that scores Tampa Bay a supplemental draft pick like Glennon’s departure surely will next season.

Tennessee QB Josh Dobbs – Photo by: Getty Images

This year’s crop of quarterbacks isn’t terribly good or deep, but it does have a few intriguing Day 3 options for the Bucs that could wind up giving Griffin and Renfree a legitimate challenge for the backup role behind Winston.

One possible option at quarterback is Tennessee’s Josh Dobbs, who was coached for two years by Bucs quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian, who served as the Volunteers’ offensive coordinator from 2013-14. Bajakian was part of the coaching staff that helped the 2014 Volunteers earn the school’s first bowl game appearance since 2010 and first bowl win since 2007, winning the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl.

Tennessee went 4-1 in the final five games of the year during Dobbs’ sophomore season. That year he set a Tennessee single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a victory over South Carolina. In that same game, the team tied a school record with 35 first downs, en route to racking up 645 yards of offense, its most against an SEC opponent since 1997. During the team’s 4-1 stretch to end the season, it averaged 37 points per game, including three games of at least 45 points.

Although Bajakian was only with Dobbs for his first two seasons, he’s kept tabs on his former signal caller and has seen him grown as a quarterback from afar. Dobbs completed 112-of-177 passes for 1,206 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions during his sophomore year, but improved mightily over the next two years as he matured and gained experience.

Dobbs completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,946 yards with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while rushing for a career-high 831 yards and 12 touchdowns on 150 carries. In his Volunteers career, Dobbs has completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 7,138 yards with 53 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He also has 2,160 yards rushing and 32 touchdowns with a long of 70 yards, while also displaying his speed and athleticism on two career touchdown receptions, including one from 58 yards.

The 6-foot-3, 216-pound Dobbs improved his draft stock at the Senior Bowl where he performed well during the week to draw some Dak Prescott comparisons, and completed 12-of-15 passes for 104 yards and one interception. Dobbs shined at the Combine last week, even outperforming Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, who is regarded as a first-round pick. Dobbs ran a 4.64, which was the second-fastest 40-yard dash time for quarterbacks in Indianapolis, and came in third in the vertical leap (33 inches) and the long jump (122 inches)

Pittsburgh QB Nathan Peterman – Photo by: Getty Images

Another quarterback to keep an eye on is Pittsburgh’s Nathan Peterman, whom Bajakian also has a connection with. Peterman was Dobbs’ backup at Tennessee before transferring to Pitt as a graduate student in 2015 where he became the Panthers’ immediate starter.

Peterman completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,287 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions as a junior, and completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 2,855 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions as a senior without many weapons to work with.

Peterman had a good showing at the Senior Bowl, completing 16-of-23 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown to East Carolina’s Zay Jones. Peterman threw two more touchdown passes to Jones, but one was called back due to a penalty, and another one in the back of the end zone was ruled out of bounds, but TV replays showed that Jones did get a foot down.

If Tampa Bay indeed drafts a quarterback on Day 3 as I suspect they will, Peterman or Dobbs might be the guy because of their familiarity with Bajakian. If the Bucs indeed draft a quarterback that rookie would be in the mix for the backup job behind Griffin or Renfree, but Tampa Bay would likely keep three quarterbacks for at least one more year due to the experience Griffin and Renfree have in Dirk Koetter’s offense.